My nanny seems furious that I'm here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone so quick to assume that the nanny is lazy? Perhaps she is just genuinely annoyed by OPs presence in the middle of her workspace. Honestly, how many of you MBs would like to work with the CEO of your company in your office for the entire day...with no notice!?

The nanny could have done outdoor activities, gone to museums, anything other than throw temper tantrums. If she is too rigid that she can't adapt yo situations, then she probably shouldn't take care of children.
And it isn't as if the nanny had to share the space the size of an office with her MB. And while I currently don't work in an office, I had managers walk into training sessions I was giving to other employees with no notice. It made me a bit nervous, but it also gave me an opportunity to show my skills.

[Anonymous]

I'm a nanny. Generally, when a parent unexpectedly stays home I'm annoyed for two reasons: 1. Why am I here then if you're looking after the kids?, and 2. It throws the routine and discipline off. However, not once in my life have I begrudged a parent the right to stay with their sick child, especially a toddler. All they want when they're sick is their mummy. Hell, I want my mummy when I'm sick and I'm 30. Besides, it is so much nicer to not have to clean up poop and vomit, and I can't imagine being unhappy about that task being taken off my plate.

Your kid is sick, OP, and you're taking care of her, and your nanny, however annoyed she might be, should behave like a grown up and help you out instead of making you feel the need to post on an internet forum about her. I would definitely speak to her along the lines of what Nanny Deb said. Her behaviour is unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a nanny. Generally, when a parent unexpectedly stays home I'm annoyed for two reasons: 1. Why am I here then if you're looking after the kids?, and 2. It throws the routine and discipline off. However, not once in my life have I begrudged a parent the right to stay with their sick child, especially a toddler. All they want when they're sick is their mummy. Hell, I want my mummy when I'm sick and I'm 30. Besides, it is so much nicer to not have to clean up poop and vomit, and I can't imagine being unhappy about that task being taken off my plate.

Your kid is sick, OP, and you're taking care of her, and your nanny, however annoyed she might be, should behave like a grown up and help you out instead of making you feel the need to post on an internet forum about her. I would definitely speak to her along the lines of what Nanny Deb said. Her behaviour is unacceptable.

Great answer!!

[Anonymous]

"If you are home, you should have given her the day off and not exposed her."

It is very hard to take care of a puking toddler since it goes everywhere. I don't think it's super doable to do this at the same time you chase another toddler. OP made the right decision although i would have worked in my bedroom (yes without a desk) rather than right next to the play room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"If you are home, you should have given her the day off and not exposed her."

It is very hard to take care of a puking toddler since it goes everywhere. I don't think it's super doable to do this at the same time you chase another toddler. OP made the right decision although i would have worked in my bedroom (yes without a desk) rather than right next to the play room.

As if every other mother in America with more than one child has never had to deal with this very situation. It's no ones job but a mother or father to take care of their sick, vomiting child. Would you want a nanny to come to your house with a stomach virus and expose your whole family to it? I don't think so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nannies who think they should get a free day off because a charge is sick are ridiculous, whiny, and way too entitled. A nanny's job is to care for kids. Kids have germs. Kids get sick. It is part of the job. A professional nanny is completely prepared to do her job and would find it a luxury to have an extra pair of hands to help her do her job. OP, your nanny is lazy.

Imagine if nurses or teachers threw a tantrum every time they had to work with kids who are sick. If you choose to work with kids, you assume the risk of being exposed to germs.

Of course, most of you wouldn't catch anything because everyone knows that incubation time for most illnesses predate the appearance of symptoms.

Some nannies don't have paid sick leave. You are assuming that if she gets sick taking care of her charge she can take time to rest and recover. Don't be so quick to assume you know every persons situation.

[Anonymous]

Talk to her and next time your children are sick and your staying home TEXT her your plan for the day before she comes in. " X is sick, I'm staying home with her today, I would like you to take Y to the library and park today, so your both less exposed and the house is quiet for x to rest." She then has a heads up and can sigh on her way to work, but get over it by the time she gets to work. We want to know before we get to work if children are sick, have lice, or anything else contagious, so a text may have made a world of difference. You'll need to be a more clear communicator, and keep her in the loop. It's fine to tell her your expectations for the day and the reasons you have for those plans. I think it's hard to have your plans/day changed when you walk in the door, so she may have been upset and processing her feelings as well as trying to figure out the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"If you are home, you should have given her the day off and not exposed her."

It is very hard to take care of a puking toddler since it goes everywhere. I don't think it's super doable to do this at the same time you chase another toddler. OP made the right decision although i would have worked in my bedroom (yes without a desk) rather than right next to the play room.

As if every other mother in America with more than one child has never had to deal with this very situation. It's no ones job but a mother or father to take care of their sick, vomiting child. Would you want a nanny to come to your house with a stomach virus and expose your whole family to it? I don't think so.

Nanny here. The mother DID take care of her sick vomiting child, as she should. Why does that mean nanny can't care for the non sick and vomiting child, as she is paid to do? Every mother with more than one child has to make choices about how to handle it when one kid is sick. If she uses daycare, she would send the well child. This mother has a nanny. Nanny was expected to care for the well child. I'm really not seeing the issue here, aside from the mild annoyance of having your boss in your space. I'm sure it was super productive and fun for OP to try to work in the same vicinity as her playing toddler. OPs nanny is an immature drama queen.

[Anonymous]

"If you are home, you should have given her the day off and not exposed her."

It is very hard to take care of a puking toddler since it goes everywhere. I don't think it's super doable to do this at the same time you chase another toddler. OP made the right decision although i would have worked in my bedroom (yes without a desk) rather than right next to the play room.


As if every other mother in America with more than one child has never had to deal with this very situation. It's no ones job but a mother or father to take care of their sick, vomiting child. Would you want a nanny to come to your house with a stomach virus and expose your whole family to it? I don't think so.

Irrelevant question. A nanny who chooses to go to work with a stomach virus is not responsible and not doing her job. A responsible nanny takes care of children, whether they are sick, cranky, or having a bad day. Every job has its hard parts. Responsible people don't complain about the hard parts of their jobs.

And for the posters who are so put out that their boss is unexpectedly in their workspace for a day, get over it. In the real world, the boss can show up anytime without notice, stay as long as they like, and even rearrange your whole schedule because they want you to do something different that day. Being passive aggressive or whining can get you fired.

[nannydebsays]

Would you want a nanny to come to your house with a stomach virus and expose your whole family to it? I don't think so.

Irrelevant question. A nanny who chooses to go to work with a stomach virus is not responsible and not doing her job. A responsible nanny takes care of children, whether they are sick, cranky, or having a bad day. Every job has its hard parts. Responsible people don't complain about the hard parts of their jobs.

And for the posters who are so put out that their boss is unexpectedly in their workspace for a day, get over it. In the real world, the boss can show up anytime without notice, stay as long as they like, and even rearrange your whole schedule because they want you to do something different that day. Being passive aggressive or whining can get you fired.

So a nanny is not allowed to come to work with a stomach virus, but is expected to BE at work with littles who have a stomach virus? In that case, it's better for parents to leave nanny to tend to the ill kids, since the parents will have to take time off work later when nanny is ill and not allowed to come to work, right?

[Anonymous]

I work with a mom who teleworks, and I'm completely in my comfort zone! If you're having nanny trouble I will happily take over thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having a parent home is just awful. Ruins the day. I don't act like that outwardly but yes in my head I'm cussing out the parent who is home.

Hahaha I'm with ya!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your nanny has issues! If a parent had stayed home with me if one or more of the kids had been ill, I would have been grateful for the extra help.
Your nanny is one of the ones who do not like any intervention from parents during the day because she can't sit around and text all day.
I have never had an issue with a parent being home while I am working. I don't get all these nannies who get so bent out of shape by a parent being home.
Discuss her attitude with her and if doesn't change, find a new nanny. You don't need to be treated like garbage in your own home.

Ding ding ding! That and she's probably watching TV when you're not there. Doesn't want to spend a day working the whole time, which she'll have to do if you're home.

Our first nanny was like this. Horrid attitude, rude when we came home on time instead of letting her go early (she had guaranteed hours). Both time I popped home unexpectedly she was on the couch watching tv. We fired her w/in 3 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless your child was vomiting and having diarrhea on a near constant basis (in which case they should have been in the hospital), there is no reason why your nanny should not have been able to take care of all children on her own. What a wonderful experience it could have been for your other child/children to learn that they can play quietly/independently as well while a sick sibling was being cared for momentarily.

Instead, you cut your nanny out of the loop and undermined her ability to do her job.

Imagine how annoyed you would be if you went into work to find that you had to spend your day with a boss who felt you were incompetent...I dare say a sigh or two would escape your lips as well.

Uh, what?

If something was happening at work, like a big meeting with an aggressive client, and my boss wanted to tag team, I'd be happy to have the company and extra set of hands.

I can do my job with my boss watching.

My nanny and I have fun home together, I think (about every other week I have a work from home day). Some days I drive her nuts and we both know it and then I get out of the way. But she is kind of awesome because when I'm there or not there she is exactly the same. I know this because she will text in front of me, watch a movie while the babies nap, etc. And since that stuff is okay with me it's easy to talk about the few things I do care about.

[Anonymous]

You're the mom... That's incredibly disrespectful of your nanny.